Jesus Luzardo continues road dominance, Bryce Harper goes 4-4 in Phillies 7-1 win over the D Backs
The calendar flipped to September on Tuesday, and now, we’re playing some fucking baseball in Philadelphia. After a cakewalk in August (called it), the red hot Phillies wasted no time getting the pennant-race month off to a roaring start. Shoutout the comment section because The Fightins rode another dominant Jesus Luzardo outing to a 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Because both the Cubs and Braves lost, the Phillies gained ground in TWO races at once. This is exactly the kind of night that sets the tone of a stretch run, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Standings Are Getting Delicious
Here’s what this win actually did. The Phillies moved ahead of the Cubs to take control of the top NL Wild Card spot, and they pulled to within three games of the NL East-leading Braves.
The Phillies and Paper Tiger Braves play SEVEN times over the final 23 games, starting with a massive four-game series Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
The stakes are crystal clear. If the Phillies win the division for a third straight year, or claim the top Wild Card spot, they host the best-of-three Wild Card Series.
Finish second in either race and they’re on the road. So this isn’t just about making the playoffs anymore. It’s about seeding, home-field, and setting themselves up for a real October run.
Unlike August where we all expected the Phillies to cruise through an easy schedule, every one of these games matters now.
COMMENT SECTION WRONG YET AGAIN:
Once again, Jesus Luzardo was the story. The lefty tossed 6 2/3 innings and gave up just one run, lowering his season ERA to 3.02, seventh-best in the entire National League. He scattered six hits, walked one, and struck out six, with three of those punch outs coming on his devastating sweeper, the pitch that’s turned him into a genuine ace.
Road Warrior. Jesus Luzardo is now 9-0 with a 1.76 ERA in 15 road starts this season.
Overall, he holds a 2.07 ERA over his last 20 starts dating back to mid-May, and as a team the Phillies are 16-2 in his last 18 starts. Luzardo has quietly become the most reliable arm in this rotation and here I am stuck listening the the comment section trash him dating back to Spring Training.
Something has to give, right?
The bullpen finished it off cleanly too. Jonathan Bowlan picked up Luzardo for the final out of the seventh and stayed on for a scoreless eighth, and Chase Shugart handled the final three outs. Nice, drama-free work from the pen to close out a road win.
Bryce Harper Is Just Not Human Right Now
Bryce Harper, my goodness. The man ran his on-base streak to 34 games with FOUR singles, one of them a perfectly placed drag bunt, and a walk. He scored on Bohm’s single in the fifth and drove in a run as the Phillies pulled away with three in the eighth. Just a relentless, all-over-the-field performance from a guy who refuses to make outs.
Bryce Harper is genuinely elite.
He’s played in every single game this season, he’s up to 80 RBIs (just two behind team leader Schwarber), and his .901 OPS is tops on the team and sixth in the majors. He also LEADS the majors with 98 walks, 31 of which came in his monster August, a month in which he hit .333 with a .496 on-base percentage.
This is peak Bryce Harper, the version that anchors the entire lineup, and he’s doing it at the exact moment the games are getting huge.
The Offense Jumped on Rodriguez Early
The Phillies didn’t wait around, either. They jumped All-Star lefty Eduardo Rodriguez for two runs in the first inning, one of them coming on Trea Turner’s 413-foot double to center.
Getting to a good pitcher early and setting the tone is exactly what you want to see from a lineup that’s rolling, and it’s nice to see Turner squaring balls up again as he works out of his recent funk.
Rolling Into the Biggest Series of the Year
Here’s where it all stands, and it’s fantastic. Tuesday’s win was the Phillies’ sixth straight, all on this current nine-game road trip, and their 15th in the last 17 games as they climbed to 19 games over .500.
They led all of baseball with that 21-7 August, and now they’ve carried every bit of that momentum into September.
Andrew Painter gets the ball Wednesday afternoon in the finale, with the Phillies going for their second straight sweep and sixth in their last seven series.
Win that, and they head home to face the Braves with all the momentum in the world and a chance to make this division race very, very interesting.
The bats are clicking, Luzardo is dealing, Harper is a machine, and the Phillies are playing the best baseball in the sport at exactly the right time.
Now we’re playing baseball, baby. Bring on Atlanta.
Join The Chase
Read More
Elite: Bryce Harper is on another planet right now as the Phillies roll into a pivotal month of September
Bryce Harper is on another planet right now. He went…
Aaron Nola and Alex McFarlane steady the ship, Phillies end August with a 2-1 win over the D Backs
What a month. Seriously, if I sat down and tried…
Zack Wheeler steadies the ship, Phillies complete the sweep with a 5-2 over the Angels
After a rough stretch that had half this city ready…
The end is still near as the schedule tightens. I hold my stances firm that Lazy Lizardo is a bum and will lay multiple eggs in must win games, Dumbroski, another bum, needs to be tossed to the curb, and the team is going to get embarrassed yet again. This is still the team that sucked at the start of the year. They’re repeating the last two seasons in that they look competitive in the regular season, and they don’t show up at the end. Same old song and dance. I’m a Phillies fan for life but I’m still checked out in my emotions to this team.